HOMETOWN HISTORY, August 2, 2013

125 Years Ago
Woman’s Work: What we need in literature are pens radiant with idealism. We need preachers who will behold the invisible glory of their Creator and bring it back to us. We need artists who will see the divine light in nature and so depict it upon the canvas that we shall perceive its beauty. We need, too, women who will be proud of woman’s place and woman’s work. It is the function of women to see the truths of life, and it is the function of men to perform the duties of life. We would not have women fight battles, but we would have them put courage into the hearts of men to do right. Man reverences woman, not because of her strength, but because of her influence in the home, setting before him the ideals that he may follow.
August 1888

100 Years Ago
Frank Burnside of Oneonta, starting Saturday from the fields of the Thomas Brothers aviation school at Bath, in a single flight placed himself at the head of the list of American aviators. Starting at 4:23 p.m. with clear skies and little or no breeze, Burnside flew in a six-mile circle over Bath and eastward to the village of Savona; and then rising in wide spirals to a height of 12,950 feet, he broke by a wide margin the former American altitude record and descended safely at 6:15 p.m. after being in the air 1 hour and 46 minutes. The previous altitude record for America was made by Lincoln Beachy in Chicago, August 29, 1911, when a height of 11,642 feet was attained. Though many efforts had been made to beat the Beachy record, all had failed until the Oneonta aviator ascended nearly two-and-a-half miles above the earth. The new mark is so much in advance of any previous one that is likely to remain for a long time. Hundreds of spectators watched Burnside, though until he landed and the record was read, few realized that they had witnessed the most important and thrilling aerial event of the year.
August 1913

80 Years Ago
Biennial Reunion of Westcott Family – “The best thing you can get from a family organization is a feeling of responsibility for living up to the high standards set by your ancestors,” Allen Westcott, Professor of English and History at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, stated in the principal address given at the Westcott Family reunion in Wilber Park yesterday. About 150 of the 1,500 known descendants of Stukley Westcott, who settled in Rhode Island in 1635, attended the outing. Professor Westcott emphasized three points in his address which was titled “What It Means to Have a Family.” In the first place he stressed the importance of the bond of union and friendship, pointing out that a family association made the various members acquainted with others throughout the country. Next he referred to the pride which an individual should have in a family which has existed for so many generations. This pride, he stated, should be consistent with the democratic ideals of the country. His third point dealt with the responsibility resting on each member to maintain the high traditions of the family, and the need for children to grow up with a desire to live up to those standards.
August 1933

60 Years Ago
Paris Fashion – A whole collection of lifted skirts was shown by Maggy Rouff today. She raised some hemlines sharply. But none reached the top of the calf, the high water mark set by Christian Dior. The show was dominated by widened shoulders and straight, tight skirts – some so tight they had to be slit for walking – and the graceful princess of redingote line, popular everywhere in the new fashions. A redingote silhouette nips in sharply at the waist, boasts a small, tight bodice and gored skirt flaring to a wide hemline but fitting over the hips. Even with shortened skirts Rouff managed to give her models a long, lanky line by placing the waistline high. There were some real empire effects, with the waist indicated just below the bust. Many dresses had well-fitted but unbelted waists.
August 1953

40 Years Ago
Over 1,000 bicyclists are expected for the bike-a-thon Saturday that will raise money to establish a new day training center for the handicapped in Otsego County. The 20-mile bike-a-thon sponsored by the Otsego Chapter of the New York State Association for Retarded Children, Inc. is slated to begin at 9 a.m. The goal is $10,000. Bicyclists will ride from McDonald’s up Orchard Street and Oneida Street to the Glen Bridge Road. The first check point is in the park on that road. After a brief trip on Route 23, bicyclists will travel up Routes 11 and 11A in the Town of Laurens to 205, which will bring them back through the Town of Oneonta to McDonald’s. Check points are planned every four miles. Riders should bring their own supply of water.
August 1973

30 Years Ago
Most of Oneonta’s cemeteries will be full near the turn of the century. Although the year 2000 is 17 years away, some cemeteries are already expanding. A 40-acre parcel behind Glenwood Cemetery in the city’s East End is being cleared now according to Lawrence Brasie, cemetery superintendent. “The cemetery owns a couple of hundred acres behind it and a portion of that is now being logged and pulped, and we’re beginning to get roads in there,” Brasie said. The present 36-acre site was donated by Oneonta banker George Wilber and opened as a cemetery in 1886.
August 1983

10 Years Ago
The government announced Thursday it will begin testing a revised nationwide system for checking personal information on every airline passenger, a post-9/11 security initiative that has raised concerns about snooping and possible false identification of people as terrorists. The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System seeks to streamline the airport screening process by flagging only those passengers deemed potential security risks. That will benefit the vast majority of travelers by ensuring fewer are stopped. The testing at a secure government location will take up to six months.
August 2003